Silver Lake, DST, Alibaba mulling joint Yahoo bid, report says

Investment firms Silver Lake and Digital Sky Technologies (DST), along with Alibaba Group, are planning to partner on an acquisition bid for Yahoo, Bloomberg is reporting, citing anonymous sources.

According to Bloomberg's sources, the three firms have already contacted Yahoo, saying that a deal could be coming over, but so far, the bid has not been completed, and still might not happen.

Silver Lake has a long history of investing in troubled companies. In 2009, for example, the company acquired Skype from eBay for about $2 billion. Earlier this year, it sold off Skype to Microsoft for $8.5 billion. Russia-based DST is a well-known investment firm with holdings in several prominent online companies, including Facebook and Spotify.

However, it's the prospect of Alibaba being involved in a deal to acquire Yahoo that might be most notable, considering the China-based e-commerce company sold off 40 percent of its company to Yahoo in 2005. It appears now that Alibaba might want to return the favor.

As the group mulls a potential acquisition bid, it will also need to think about the other companies that might want to get involved. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that a host of companies are considering acquisition bids for Yahoo, including venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and Providence Equity Partners, among others.

For its part, Yahoo has said that it's not up for sale, and the company is currently looking for a new CEO. However, All Things Digital reported last month that the company's chairman, Roy Bostock, is willing to hear any and all acquisition bids that might come his way.

Talk of a potential Yahoo acquisition started cropping up last month when the company made the not-so-surprising decision to fire CEO Carol Bartz, citing poor financial performance and a flagging stock price. But one person's troubles are another person's opportunities. And at just $14.36 per share and with a market cap of $18.13 billion, many investors view Yahoo as a bargain that they're anxious to capitalize on.

Neither Yahoo nor the group of possible suitors immediately responded to CNET's request for comment.